The government’s Brexit complacency threatens all financial clearing in the UK November 7, 2016 Let's be very blunt. The UK government’s failure to have any kind of Brexit plan is potentially catastrophic for business throughout the UK and for the financial services sector in particular. The UK government’s insistence that it will not offer “a running commentary” on negotiation preparations also means there will be little or no public [...]
On economic policy, Trump is the bigger danger to both the US and the world November 7, 2016 The Western world is retreating from economic liberalism. Don’t take my word for it – look at the platforms of both Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump ahead of today’s election. While a commitment to individual rights and a clear separation of powers has facilitated the conditions to maintain the US at the world’s [...]
As a new report finds household debt reaching £1.5 trillion, is this a disaster waiting to happen? November 7, 2016 Baroness Altmann, former minister of state for pensions, says Yes. This news makes for disturbing reading. Casting our minds back a few years to the events leading up to the 2008 crash invokes an apprehensive sense of deja vu. Was it not excessive borrowing that led to the crisis we are still struggling to overcome? [...]
Clinton good, Trump bad: Market reaction to changing odds is too simplistic November 7, 2016 Thank goodness Britain is a nation of geniuses (or should that be genii?). Not even six months after the UK got to grips with the minutiae of EU rule-making and its enormous, surreptitiously dastardly implications for our country, we have all suddenly become experts in British Constitutional Law. We have had a lot of assistance [...]
The Brexit vote has revealed Jeremy Corbyn’s irrelevance November 7, 2016 The weekend brought a deluge of reaction to Thursday’s High Court ruling on Article 50. Everyone from renowned legal experts to armchair constitutionalists weighed in on what the ruling meant for Theresa May and whether the judges had made the right call. Under normal circumstances, the voice of the Leader of the Opposition would be prominent [...]
Donald Trump is poison for America, Hillary Clinton is poison for the world November 7, 2016 A particularly low point in French politics was reached in 2002, when the electorate was left to choose their President from between the louche, conniving, incumbent Jacques Chirac, and the beyond-the-pale Jean-Marie Le Pen. The French people, without any joy but mindful that the credibility of the Fifth Republic was on the line, opted for [...]
Britain needs a transitional deal to avoid a cliff-edge of Brexit uncertainty November 7, 2016 Just under two weeks ago, Theresa May announced the go-ahead for a third runway at Heathrow, following years of analysis and debate. The decision was a complex one and certainly one of the PM’s toughest since taking up office in July. This, though, is dwarfed by another issue which had dominated the news agenda even [...]
Britain must raise its game on innovation to make a success of Brexit November 7, 2016 The UK economy has so far proved hardy in the face of the vote to leave the EU. While GDP growth has slowed, it’s been higher than many had expected – consumers continue to spend on the high street and exporters have been taking advantage of a weaker sterling. But uncertain times are still ahead [...]
As the election campaign draws to a close, has it fundamentally damaged America’s moral standing? November 7, 2016 Brian Klaas, a fellow in comparative politics at the London School of Economics, and author of The Despot’s Accomplice, says Yes. Whether Donald Trump wins or loses tomorrow, he has already done tremendous damage to America’s moral standing in the world, and its ability to promote Western liberal democracy globally. His sexist, racist, and xenophobic rhetoric [...]
Editor’s notes: Think Brexit voters were just angry? Think again. November 4, 2016 The hot topic of the day is the process of Brexit. With the High Court ruling in favour of those who claimed that the government lacks the constitutional authority to trigger Article 50 without parliamentary approval, it’s an absolute field day for legal commentators and armchair constitutionalists. Those who cry that the judgement represents “a [...]